Spanish fresh produce association Coag has filed an official complaint of fraud against retail group Carrefour and import-export company Agroatlas Europa for allegedly selling Class II Moroccan green beans as Class I Spanish products.
In their complaint to the Almeria’s Court of First Instance Number 2, the organisation has alleged that the two companies committed fraud against the consumer by selling 'wrongly-labelled' vegetables in a number of stores across the Spanish province.
Andres Góngora, secretary of Coag Almeria’s branch, claimed that a “fraudulent practice” had been discovered in Carrefour stores in the city of Almeria and the towns of El Ejido and Vicar, as well as in the fellow Andalusian city of Seville.
Mr Góngora said in a press conference that the specific subject of the complaint was green beans in 500 gram net bags, which had been labelled as Class I products originating from Spain.
However, he said that behind the first label a second label, in smaller writing, was “hidden” with data detailing that the green beans were Class II products from Morocco.
Mr Góngora claimed that no traceability code was found on either label on the green bean packs, which were allegedly imported to Spain by Agroatlas Europa.
